Lions of our Arrogance ...

The passage of time is a tricky thing.  We read a story in a book, and we naturally focus on the events described in the moment.  The victories or the losses seem to happen in our minds in brief periods of time for the hero or heroine of the story.  But the reality of life is that to chronicle a story, is to condense large periods of time into short revelations, to keep interest alive.  Nobody wants to read a day-by-day account of the hero’s life from one interesting point until the next one.  When the plain-ness or dull-ness of life abounds, writers just abridge these time periods for good reason – if they didn’t they would lose their audience.  So then another interesting phenomenon occurs, we assume the time that passes is time where everything in the life of the hero is “normal”, uninteresting, and not difficult.  It is not just that our hero moves from one event to another, it is that the time between events is not something that might be “hard”.  Instead it is uneventful, therefore just another “day in the life”.  Because “our” days are not usually murder from one day to the next, we reason the lives of our heroes in the stories must likely be the same.  But where history is concerned, they weren’t.

Matthew writes in his gospel to the Hebrews of an incident of faith involving a Canaanite woman.  His audience would immediately associate Canaanite with Gentile of the first order.  Canaanite’s were traditionally pagan.  They were traditionally responsible for much of the misery in Israel.  They worshipped false gods, but did it using practices of wild sex, that would inevitably appeal to Israelites until they were sucked in and fully engaging in these rites and practices, almost without conscience or remorse.  But these practices of wild orgy worship came at a horrific cost.  There was no birth control, so the babies that resulted in the temple prostitutes who helped facilitate these rituals were divided into two camps.  The male babies sacrificed on the altars of Molech, or half-a-dozen other pagan deities who demanded human blood for their favor.  The female babies simply grew to become the next generation of temple prostitutes to expand the practices (often at unthinkably young ages).  Israelites knew better than to allow this, let alone be responsible for it, but the lure of “free sex” was just too strong.  What inevitably must follow was an invasion of Israel by a foreign power, enough to shake Israel out of its spiritual lethargy and back towards obedience again.

This was the history most often associated with Canaanites.  So to even include the mention of a Canaanite woman in a gospel intended for a Hebrew audience was to invite criticism.  But Matthew remembered the lessons Jesus taught His disciples and Matthew thought they bore repeating in print for future generations to remember – praise God that he did.  Matthew picks up the story in verse 21 of his gospel saying … “Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.”  And here is where our minds just easily blank out the intervening time.  Last we knew, Jesus had just landed on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, and was passing through an entire region, healing all the sick with nothing more than the touch of the hem of His garment.  And our minds begin to just think, everything was just fine.  But we forget, the areas Jesus traveled were in rocky deserts.  The paths were not smoothed out by concrete, or black tops, they were small paths worn to sand by the feet of previous travelers, horses, donkeys, or camels.

Even so, rocks abounded.  If you were not careful where you stepped, you could easily twist an ankle, or worse, fall and break a bone of any kind.  Having an accident did not afford you the responses of 911 first responders, you just got to scream in pain, until you made it to help with the aid of friends, or perhaps help came your way randomly traveling to a location on the same path you trode.  But let’s assume no accidents befell you, the other real danger was not the wildlife (though the random mountain lion, or desert lion, or wolf, or snake or spider were still present) – no the other real danger was human, that is, human criminals.  Thieves staked out places in the steep mountain paths where it would be easy to rob travelers who would fear for their lives, more than their possessions.  Again, no local police to end it.  So the only mercy shown would come from the heart of the theif, if there was any to be offered.

The heat was unbearable by day.  No easy access to water.  And if you happened to be unlucky enough to encounter Romans, your fate was anything but secure.  You could be enslaved, just because the Roman commander felt like it.  Very often the roads of Israel were “decorated” with a sea of Roman crosses stretched out for miles.  The people of Israel that resisted in any way, were hung on these crosses, left to die over many days of agony, until strength finally failed and they suffocated to death.  Their families were allowed, in fact, encouraged to come to see them die slowly.  From time-to-time the Romans would allow a family member to provide water, or food, to a victim on the cross, in order to stretch out and prolong the agony of their inevitable death.  Israel was not the happy place our minds might conjure up between the events in the life of Jesus.  It was a place of absolute misery.  It was a place where the evil of men abounded almost without restraint.  And it was a barren, dry, rocky, landscape with steep cliffs, winding mountain paths, and dangers around every curve.

And in all of this, braving all of this, was Jesus traveling by foot from one place to the next.  Carrying no food, and giving away any money donated to the poor wherever they encountered them.  Jesus travels all the way to the north of Israel into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, no easy journey.  Matthew continues the story in verse 22 saying … “And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”  As hard as it would be for a group of 13 men (plus potential other entourage) to travel these distances, in this weather, with limited resources; for a woman alone it was a near suicide risk.  A woman would face the indignity of rape by Romans, or criminals, or desperate men – in addition to all the other dangers outlined already.  But this woman does it, no easy trip.  And the motivation behind seeking out Jesus was that her daughter was possessed with a demon.

Oh yes, did we forget to mention that, demons seemed in out of proportion density throughout the land of Israel and its neighbors.  Once the demon took possession of you, it seemed as if no one could do anything about it.  Imagine the movie “the Exorcist” happening in your home, with your child, or sibling.  And imagine that not being a rare occurrence but a relatively common one.  Now for an Israelite this was particularly humiliating, what, with the whole we serve the right God thing.  But for a Canaanite pagan, the attitude of Israel was … “they earned it”.  After all Canaanites historically worshipped false pagan gods, so possession seems highly likely – they had no defense.  Hookers were thought to carry demons, Mary Magdalene had them removed multiple times as I recall.  And Canaanite women were not known for their fidelity (keep in mind the rituals of sex that permeated their religions).  None the less, the woman finds Jesus and looks to Him for healing.

Then things go from bad to worse.  Matthew continues in verse 23 saying … “But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.”  After all the horror in this poor mother’s life, after all the danger she braved to get here, Jesus is completely silent in response to her.  She does not stop asking.  She probably has broken down to tears at this point.  Her only hope left on planet earth for her daughter can hear her, but is saying nothing.  She cannot just reach out and touch the hem of His garment, because she is not the one who needs the healing.  Her daughter does.  Through her tears, she continues to call out.  But Jesus is testing … [wait for it] … His people. 

Often, we read this encounter as Jesus testing the faith of this woman, but with everything she has done and said, her faith is already well known to anyone paying attention.  This test of Jesus was not for her.  It was for us.  What is breaking the heart of Jesus though none can see it, is the lack of love from the men and women who call themselves His disciples for this pagan … both then and now.  We treat those whose sins are self-evident and well documented, as somehow less, as people we must avoid, lest we find ourselves taking part in their sins as well.  We shame them.  We want them to just leave, to just go somewhere else, away from us, and our churches.  It is OK to find Jesus, but find Him somewhere away from our sight.  The disciples grow tired of her pleas, and actually ask Jesus to send her away from their presence.  Tell her to go.  Get this crying woman out of here.  Pagans have no place at the feet of Jesus.  Sinners who deserve it, should reap what they sow, somewhere else.  And arrogance raises its ugly head.

Jesus steals His heart with supernatural strength in order to continue the test.  Matthew continues the story with the answer of Jesus again in verse 24 saying … “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. [verse 25] Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.”  Jesus reminds her that the mission of the Messiah is to begin with house of Israel.  This is why He does not appear in Egypt or Norway or China.  The legacy of Abraham dating back to a promise to Adam, has found its fulfillment here in Israel.  This is where the prophets foretold.  But Israel has dropped the ball.  Israel was supposed to be a nation of priests, not literally, but figuratively.  Each Israelite was supposed to have a testimony about God, they would have passion to share with any who would listen.  Each Israelite was supposed to long to ease the pain of people like this Canaanite, from the burden of demons and false gods.  Each Israelite was supposed to point people like this women to the Truth who alone could set her free.

The disciples most of all should know this (them and us).  They, more than any other, should have burned with a desire to help this woman.  They should have interceded on her behalf, made a case for her, taken her into their hearts.  It does not matter that she is a public sinner, like a prostitute, or a homosexual, or a criminal.  At the side of Jesus, at His feet, is where all that past life does not matter.  The sole function of the gospel is to get people like this to arrive here with Jesus, and instead the disciples are still ready to send her away.  No one intercedes.  No one makes her case, or defends her, or welcomes her to their bosom.  And it is as if we were there.  It is as if we collectively can step right into their shoes, with how we treat those who do not see things “our way”.  We go so far as to treat other Christians this way, because they do not carry the denominational banner we do.  The disciples are silent during this encounter.  The woman only deepens her resolve and falls at the feet of Jesus weeping all the louder and crying out “Lord, help me”.

The heart of Jesus is near exploding.  This test is harder on Him than on her, or His disciples, or us.  His heart breaks at how callous we are to His child so desperate in need.  He will continue this test only once more as Matthew records picking up in verse 26 saying … “  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.”  Jesus has reached in to the hearts of His disciples.  He has found just the right word summarizing how they think of her.  They are all calling her a dog, a bitch, a pig, some abomination not worth the time or words of Jesus.  He tests this woman knowing what her outcome will be, but the real test is for His disciples to see within themselves, how hard they remain towards His precious daughter of another heritage, another faith, another history.  Here is the final time He will allow the pain of this woman to persist, in order that His church can finally pick up the banner of love it is supposed to have, and ease the suffering of this woman.  But alas, no disciple passes the test.

The woman gives an answer that should strangle our hearts until they break.  Matthew records in verse 27 saying … “And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. [verse 28] Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”  The woman begins her answer, but not by disagreeing with the assessment of Jesus, but by embracing it.  Jesus has just called her a dog, and she agrees saying “truth, Lord”.  I am a dog, a pig, an abomination unworthy of your love, or time, or attention.  But I will settle for the crumbs that fall from your table, for any scraps you are willing to part with.  The woman loves Jesus so much, no insult will deter her, no truth will unsettle her.  And Jesus can take it no longer, He grabs His daughter, holding her close to Him, softly crying in her ears, as He tells her how great her faith is, and that her daughter is whole from this very moment.

Matthew may not have understood it then.  But when he writes his gospel, he understands it very well.  The lions on the mountainsides, and in the Roman coliseums are not the only dangerous ones in our lives.  The lions of our arrogance and pride are swifter to kill us than any other on earth.  Ancient Rome is gone.  Our highways are well paved, and we travel them in big steal vehicles.  But the lions of our arrogance and pride still remain.  How the disciples reacted to one so clearly in need of love, and of help, was based on the fundamental idea that they were better than her.  This idea sprang from a multitude of reasons.  But it was so firm in them, they were ready to send away a crying mother, because her tears offended them.  They made no intercession for her.  They made no defense for her.  They cast her away in their minds and hearts so quickly it nearly broke the heart of Jesus who tested them.

It was not just in Gethsemane where Jesus tested His people three times, this was the first round of tests.  Being tested is never fun, never easy.  This woman endured anything to secure Jesus.  It looked like she was not going to see her daughter healed by how Jesus responded multiple times.  And the disciples, that is, the church of Jesus, made no effort to help her despite her need.  This only happens because His church has yet to learn how to love.  That lesson is one of transformation.  To take whatever heart you have in you now, and transform it, to a heart nearly explodes in sympathy with this woman – to do anything you can do, give anything you have – to see her pain abated.  But instead we refuse to submit who we are, falling victim not to the lions of the Roman circus, but to the more dangerous lions of our arrogance and pride, all-consuming beasts who have no mercy for others, or for us.  Let us through submission, find the passion for others, for anyone not like us, to love them, not like dogs and pigs, but like treasured daughters as Jesus would and did.

 

I Can Eat Anything? ...

Clean versus Unclean … have the rules changed?  To begin, we need to understand extremes so that subtleties make more sense.  Assuming the new rule is that I can eat or drink anything – then it would be permissible to brew up a batch of Clorox soup.  It would be fatal, but permissible.  It would be stupid but permissible.  It lacks all common sense, therefore easily falls into the extreme’s category.  But what about eating duck versus chicken, or pork versus beef?  Sorry to be the harbinger of “bad” news but the same logic applies.  If it is permissible to eat things that are bad for us – even though it may prove fatal over time, and it may prove stupid over time.  Then is “permissibility” the true standard we should be aiming for, or is intelligent choices a better route to go?  As for Biblical permissibility there are a few interesting ideas to keep in mind.  God does not change (nor do His admonitions and laws).  God tells us what is good for us, because He LOVES us, not because He is trying to make our lives miserable.  Adam was given counsel about what to eat, and way back then, there were things he and Eve were not supposed to eat.  Disobeying that initial dietary counsel had profound negative impacts, even though it did not immediately kill them both.

At the point of the flood, a conveniently ignored fact in most Hollywood movies of this event, is that the animals considered “clean” by God to eat, entered the ark in groups of seven, NOT two by two.  God knew that our need of “clean” meat would / should exceed our “need” of unclean.  So the post-flood era would begin with a larger “herd” of the clean animals than the unclean.  Israel under Moses was re-given the councils with regards to diet, as father-to-son traditions had broken down by then.  So it was written down.  The faithful Israelites even in captivity by Nebuchadnezzar refused “unclean” foods, in addition foods offered to other gods.  And when Jesus arrives, his diet is simple and kosher.  Jesus enjoys pressed grapes to drink (unfermented as the language of earlier Biblical manuscripts reveal).  He also enjoys the foods served at traditional feasts, lamb, fish, pita bread, olives, oil, vinegar and simple herbs.  His example is not one of extravagance or of changing the dietary prescriptions that existed for 4000 years.  At the end of all things, it is hard to imagine that in heaven, we will still be killing God’s creations, in order to keep our thirst for meat alive.  I seem to recall something about “death itself” being cast into that lake of fire and being consumed (i.e. no more death). 

So considering that our Creator had a reason for us to segregate into our diet, clean things, and unclean things – He loves us – and He would know – Why would He change His own rules later on, when conditions in our world would only be worse?  Even the practice of animal sacrifice ended at the first coming of the Messiah (the Lamb of the world).  Hard to imagine that elective killing would be encouraged, let alone expanding that practice into animals He knows are not good for us.  There is however another way to examine the clean versus unclean question.  As crazy as it sounds, how about how “clean” you are when you sit down to eat?  If you work in an office doing “indoor” work, the chances of you getting filthy are probably limited.  So when your lunch break arrives, if you open up your sack take out a sandwich and begin eating, you probably start this meal fairly clean.  The invention of hand sanitizer bolsters that.

However, if you work outdoors, and if your work requires you to touch things that don’t exactly build an appetite in you – then perhaps cleaning up before you eat is a better practice.  This is not a rules thing.  This is simply a common-sense thing.  You wash car grease off your hands before you grab that sandwich because you do not want to taste car grease while you eat.  Same for a dozen other professions where it makes more sense to clean your hands before you eat.  This was the case back in the days of Jesus, and for centuries before that.  But the Pharisees were not content to stay with common sense ideas.  They took the common sense and made it uncommon and excessive.  Then they made that tradition.  Then they made that part of their law.  If it was a good idea to wash your hands once before eating, why not do it twice just to make sure?  And if 2 times was better, why not 3?  And over time washing becomes a full-time activity.  So it was in the days of Jesus.

In his gospel to the Hebrews Matthew discusses an incident in chapter fifteen where the Pharisees tried to use the failure of the disciples from not washing their hands before a meal, as a failure of following the law.  But Jesus instructed them that tradition is not the same as His Law, and their doctrine was in error.  This was not meant to be a wholesale endorsement of never cleaning yourself up before you eat.  Let’s face it, foot washing was not just a meaningless tradition back then, it was done to kill the ugly odor of feet in a room before you sat down to eat.  But Jesus was trying to make a point that failing to wash up is not a cardinal sin.  On this topic Matthew recalls the discussion picking up in verse 10 saying … “And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: [verse 11] Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”

This profound statement was no more about clean and unclean meats as it was about throwing up as being a sin.  This was about taking common sense, creating tradition out of it, then elevating that tradition to being equal with God’s law.  Man does not get to do that.  We are not the same as God.  And what comes out of a man’s mouth (i.e. what he says, and usually what he does that follows that speech of intent) is not predetermined by his diet, or how clean his hands were before he eats.  Washing your hands 5 times before you eat does not make your heart any more loving – it may even have the opposite effect of being annoyed at a God you believed requires this of you.  The hands of the Pharisees who presumably followed this tradition were clean, yet stained with the blood of Christ they intended to, and then did, kill.  The connection was not there.  And while God’s dietary prescriptions of clean and unclean remain, these prescriptions were designed for our well-being because He loves us.  Staying to a kosher diet however, does not make you sinless either.  Making good dietary choices does not keep your heart free from sin, any more than eating Clorox soup does (though you won’t have long to think about how stupid a choice that was after doing it).

But as predictable as the seasons, the Pharisees were pissed off at this revelation.  So much so, that the disciples could visibly see it in them.  They felt the need to warn Jesus about it.  Matthew continues in verse 12 saying … “Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? [verse 13] But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. [verse 14] Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”  Yikes!!  This response should reach into your heart and shake it to the roots.  Forget the Pharisees, this has a direct meaning to you and I.  Jesus says every plant (note the absence of meat … just saying) – which my Father has not planted shall be rooted up.  Think about this in terms of modern Christianity.  The Pharisees were the church leaders of their day in the “right” church.  But they were not planted by God.  You or I may be a church leader, or church member of what we believe is the right church today – but NOT be planted by God.

Instead we are planted by tradition, by following our guidelines and standards, by believing in scripture.  All the while we have never had a personal experience with Jesus.  We refuse to submit our will to His, just like our Pharisee forefathers, and we deceive ourselves that we are part of the “in crowd” where it comes to the kingdom of heaven.  Yet we are far from it.  We are destined to be rooted up.  The next thing Jesus says is “let them alone”.  This is scarier still.  The disciples who have the truth, because they know the Truth – are instructed to leave the Pharisees alone, i.e. don’t waste your time on them.  Could our certainty of who we are, and what we believe be so cemented in our minds, that people around us with the Truth cannot break through to us?  Have we embraced our blindness through our certainty so strongly that we will refuse to let it go, even when the Truth stands in front of us, because it does not conform with what we already believe?  In so doing we are blind, leading other blind, right into the ditch, and nowhere near His kingdom.

Peter is nervous.  He senses there may be a real problem here with beliefs he has long held to.  So he wants a little more clarification.  What an excellent idea!!!  Would it not be awesome, if we would let go of our certainty and instead keep asking Jesus for a little more clarification.  Matthew continues in verse 15 saying … “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. [verse 16] And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? [verse 17] Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?”  Part one of the response of Jesus begins by discussing our digestive process.  What we eat goes into our stomach and comes out in our poo.  It has nothing to do with how we love.  Of course this does not mean we get to eat Clorox soup because that would be bad for us, and Jesus loves us too much to see us eat such things.  The same could be said for unclean foods that take longer to kill us, or harm us, and Jesus would still want us to avoid them.  But eating something stupid still does not have an immediate effect on how you love.  Consuming a little dirt on your hands wont either.

Jesus continues  in verse 18 saying … “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. [verse 19] For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: [verse 20] These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”  And there it is.  What we say, expresses an intent of our heart.  And those intentions, and motives, are what defile us.  The last part of verse 20 should clarify specifically that “not” washing our hands does not defile us.  Especially washing our hands multiple times.  This entire passage in Matthew has NOT been about clean and unclean foods.  It has been about clean and unclean hands before we eat.  Those who would use this passage in an attempt to justify eating anything, are trying to get a pass on the admonitions of a God who loves you and wants only what is best for you.  Better to trash the bacon and trust the Lord, than to keep downing the bacon thinking your own dietary wisdom exceeds that of your God.  It doesn’t.

This passage is about surrendering your will to God, to Jesus, and letting Him adjust your desires whatever they may be.  Removing those intentions that are not the best; and replacing them with ones that are.  Developing tastes for foods that are good for you; and removing tastes for foods that are bent on destroying you.  Not focusing on the superficial of washing your hands and thinking you are clean, but instead having Jesus clean you from the inside out.  Changing your motives and teaching you how to love.  Will you hear?  Will you listen and understand?  Or have your already become the Pharisee, so certain in your likes and dislikes, and certain in your beliefs you will hear none other?

 

The Death of Legalism ...

I was a rebellious child.  Apparently at 2-years-old, my mother laid out newspapers across the kitchen counters and stove-top while she attempted to clean the tops of the cabinets and ceiling above the stove.  My guess, too many burned meals accumulated smoke over time; but then at that age, I was hardly the food critic I pretend to be today.  Before climbing up on top of these counters, my mother specifically warned me “NOT” to turn on the stove, lest something horrible happen.  Well telling a societal rebel “not” to do something, has to be considered a formal invitation on engraved print at the age of two.  So upon walking through the kitchen I promptly turned on the stove in order to test a physics theory I was still trying to work out regarding accelerants and the forced acrobatics abilities of my mother.  Turns out my theory did not account for the displeasure of my mother of forced anything; nor the fear in me of seeing cause-and-effect of a fire that had to be scooped up and put out in the sink. (regardless I still scored mom’s landing as an Olympic 8.5, and made secret plans to hide another wooden spoon behind the refrigerator where many of its brethren were already waiting) 😊  One could argue, how is a 2-year-old capable of real rebellion, let alone rebellion against the “rules” of societal conformity?  To which I would argue I found a way.

At 3-years-old, I determined the kitchen in my parents apartment needed some redesign, so I sat in the middle of the floor one Saturday afternoon having escaped my playpen, opened up a can of gold touchup paint my father had accidently left within my reach; sat down, and proceeded to dip my fingers into the paint and begin to paint … everything.  I painted the refrigerator, the stove, or at least the parts of them my 3-year-old fingers could reach.  I painted the cabinets, the floors, the table and chairs, and of course myself.  What artistry could ever be considered complete until the artist matched his work?  My parents awoke from their “nap” to find me still sitting in the middle of the painted kitchen floor.  My finger-painted oil-based paint nearly dry now on everything within an 8-foot radius of where I sat, paint can now empty.  Would have been hard to deny it was me.  While I may have had advanced language skills, I had no reason to deny the artistry I was plainly intended to do (my calling at that age – LOL).  And my parents, not appreciating good art (neither did the apartment landlord/manager apparently), were left with attempting to clean up everything from the paint; hardest of all was getting it off of me.

I only know these stories of me because my mother still takes great pleasure in telling them to me (and later to my kids).  What caused her great frustration when they occurred, are now seen and remembered only for the humor they are capable of inciting.  If you can get past it, rebellion might even look as ridiculous as it sounds, while you are in it – not so much.  (When we moved my mother discovered a treasure trove of wooden spoons hiding behind the refrigerator; she laughed heartily knowing full well why they were there.)  But it is nearly the nature of rebellion to do stupid things.  The perspective of wisdom generally exceeds the rebel’s ability to perceive it.  And where it comes to worshipping God, we, His church, find not-so-cute ways to rebel against the notion of having a unique relationship with Jesus, and rebel, in favor of having a corporate one. 

We confuse gathering together to share our unique experiences with each other, to encourage each other; with having none of our own and becoming fully dependent on hearing the stories of others and believe the “listening” has become somehow enough.  We wrap other people’s stories up in tradition and sequential order, with beautiful music, children’s stories, offering calls, prayer, and then focus our attention on a sermon (the lessons or perspective of just one person) – all of this masking the fact, that our own contribution in church does not require us to share “our unique” testimony or experience with Jesus that grows every week.  These traditions make us comfortable not recognizing, perhaps we don’t have a unique and personal experience with Jesus at all.  And a single story or encounter of Jesus and you, is surely NOT what Jesus has in mind as His relationship with you.  He wants one that is intimate, growing, changing, and getting deeper all the time – forever dynamic.  Stagnant ones are boring ones.  Telling the same joke, or funny story over and over is hardly as fun as telling a new one every time you see a friend.  But if we are content to be stagnant, forever looking backwards at one thing, or worse, having nothing real to look at all – we have found a way to rebel against the true worship of God, in favor of group think.  Now who else is the rebel?

In Peter’s gospel (penned by his friend John Mark) he tells of a crazy lady who believed if she could but touch the hem of His garment she would be made whole, despite a complete lack of evidence that might work up to that time.  That was her personal and unique testimony of her encounter with Jesus.  And it worked.  But it did not stay personal.  She shared it, with force, with conviction, with passion.  The passion of one who was sick and now was made whole.  Her words were accompanied with the power of the Holy Spirit to introduce the Truth to those who heard her.  And Matthew picks up with his testimony in his gospel in chapter fourteen, of what the results were of the crazy lady’s thinking and testimony were.  It begins in verse 34 saying … “And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. [verse 35] And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; [verse 36] And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.”

An entire region believed.  Not just in the Jesus who fed the 5000, or walked on water, or moved time and space.  These events just occurred yesterday, not enough time to reach them with all the details yet, perhaps only some of them.  But it was not just the Jesus the Messiah, this entire region believed in.  They also believed in the crazy lady’s story of touching the hem of His garment and being made whole.  And that worked too!!  For every single person who did it.  A unique testimony spreading between each sick person and the Savior who’s hem they had only to touch.  The power of healing not from clothing, but from the One wearing them.  Similar stories, but still unique to the person.  Similar themes, but each unique to the person who received the healing.  Lame men, women, and children leaping to their feet to praise God in the person of Jesus Christ.  You could not confine these ones to a church pew and dare to call it worship.  They had to run.  They had to use the restored health they were given to carry His gospel to the far distances healed legs, joints, and feet would go.  Yelling the whole way to any who would listen, about the good news.  Hugging with restored arms and hands.  That was their church.

Imagine the eyes of the blind, who now looked deep into the face of the savior who opened them with only a brush of his garment walking by.  Imagine them burning in the image of that face, not just in their eyes, but in their very souls.  They too would have a testimony that each of them would find unique.  While staring at the word was a gift they would not reject, staring at the face of Jesus was one they would forever prefer.  Who wants to read the story of others about Jesus, when you can see Jesus yourself face to face?  The entire Old Testament pointed forward to the coming of Jesus, but those words met their fulfillment in the face of Jesus, the blind were now free to see for themselves.  Can you imagine any one of them turning away from Jesus in favor of books?  That was the error of the Pharisees.  But then the Pharisees refused to recognize their own blindness.  Worship for one who was blind and now was free to see, was something else entirely.

When the formerly lame, met the formerly blind, do you think they both sat still, while a Pharisee recited his own interpretation of scripture?  Or do you think both could not help but tell the Pharisee about why he was wrong, because of the Love incarnate in the person of Jesus, and invite that Pharisee to come and see.  And therein is the gospel; an invitation to come and see Jesus.  Come and taste Jesus for yourself.  Reach out and touch His hem and be made whole.  Run to Him when your legs would not carry you before.  Look deep into those eyes of Love, when before you could not see.  Let Jesus take your sin from you, and free you from it.  Even today Jesus is still doing that.  But we are rebellious children, who prefer to move in the safety of groups, and mask our longing in the tradition of sequential order so as to fail to see.  We are content to sit still and quiet, for we have nothing unique in us to share, and no passion driving us to share it.

Those with testimony, have something they must say regarding the Jesus they have encountered that gave them that testimony.  It is a response to Love.  It cannot be earned.  But this is not the belief of the church elders in the days of Jesus, nor perhaps in our own.  Our denominational boundaries teach us that others are wrong.  But how could an individual testimony about Jesus be wrong?  It isn’t.  Instead it is the differences over doctrinal interpretations that keep us segregated.  We teach the rites done in the way only our church does them, the recitations pronounced in the ways we believe right.  These differences keep us apart now.  Matthew records in his gospel in chapter fifteen that it was also so in the hearts of our Pharisee forefathers.  He picks up in verse 1 saying … “Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, [verse 2] Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.”

Legalism.  For legalism exists that men might perform actions, to secure the favor of God.  We call those actions, obedience, but in truth it is far from that.  Those actions are meant to achieve a result.  We read our Bible’s more, or pray more, or give to the poor more – in order to secure the favor of God.  This is legalism.  We baptize in our certain way, after our doctrinal interpretations have been accepted.  We ask our members to adopt healthy lifestyles and equate healthy choices with Godly choices.  We twist the behavior of obedience that might come from a transformed heart with deeds that any hands can perform, and so lie to ourselves.  The Pharisees performed the rituals expected of them by the church.  They expected any person professing church leadership to do the same.  The disciples of Jesus were not living up to that self-imposed standard.  Therefore, the disciples were not worshipping correctly.  Nor would you be, if you disrupted the sequential order and traditions of your church worship by making inappropriate noise in an out of place time (even if that noise were the prophecies of God Himself).

Jesus answers in verse 3 saying … “But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? [verse 4] For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. [verse 5] But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; [verse 6] And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”  Love cannot be undone by words spoken in any church.  We are supposed to love our parents, really love them.  When that love is in you, it does not need the limitations written in stone.  But when that love for others is not truly in you, then the reminders of what should be, written in stone are all you have to prick a guilty conscience.  The people in the days of Jesus, who did not want the “burden” of loving their parents, needed a get-out-of-jail-free card where the law was constantly reminding them.  They devised a tradition, where a certain sum of money could be given, certain words pronounced, and their “obligation” to love be forever removed.  Making the law of none effect.

Those in harmony with the law of God, through a transformed heart made so by Jesus Christ, do not face this dilemma.  They are pleased with the “opportunity” to love parents and care for them.  The “blessing” of maintaining this relationship for as long as life will permit is truly considered a blessing not a burden.  This love grows from errant 2-year-old, through young-adulthood, to years of advanced age.  The love alters over time, but is enriched over time.  This relationship was meant to teach us things about God, from how secure we feel with being protected as a little child, to how it is possible to love children of our own when we have them.  Our ability to love our kids, sometimes in spite of what they do like covering a kitchen in gold paint, is a testament to how great a love can be.  It shows how love is capable of truly forgiving, and years later, finding the humor in how ridiculous rebellion can look.  To attempt to discard all of this with words spoken in church, reveals a selfishness that does not understand how love works.  This is what Jesus was trying to point out to these accusers of the brethren so long ago.

But before we all get comfortable that this only happened way back when, let us examine further the words that Jesus continued to speak picking up in verse 7 saying … “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, [verse 8] This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. [verse 9] But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”  Legalism!  Jesus calls out to them, and to us, what legalism truly results in.  A vain worship, that is a pointless worship.  A worship where we say all the right things, read all the right texts from scripture, pray, sing, and sit as dead men with no conviction in our hearts.  We teach instead for doctrines, the commandments of men.  Tradition usurps the heart of true worship.  Even when that tradition is buried in emotionalism of repetitive worship music carried on until the heart is whipped into a frenzy of false joy.  It is a matter of repetition, and sequence, and order.  It is a matter of corporate Jesus experience, replacing the unique individual experience Jesus longs to have with each of us.  We would rather perform, rather follow lists, than submit.  We would rather listen, than speak and perhaps have our speech reveal the absence of what we profess.

If absolute power corrupts absolutely; then perhaps legalism hardens the heart not partially, but completely as well.  Legalism leads us away from a unique experience with Jesus, and towards a manufactured one.  It is not obedience that does this.  For true obedience is a side-effect of the transformed heart.  But manufactured obedience, that is, obedience attempted for the sake of itself, or the favor of God, or because of a mandate you have yet to understand – is the poison of legalism that does not soften the heart, it hardens it.  You cannot obey your way to heaven, or to the side of Jesus.  You are not obedient because you declare yourself to be so, or because others see you this way.  You can only obey when you submit yourself first to Jesus, and allow Him to change who you are into who He intends you to be.  That transformation of your heart, will teach you what it truly means to love, and how great that love can be.  It is that transformation that brings your heart into harmony with the law of God, and the side effect is making obedience natural within you.  It is a result of love, not a stepping stone to love.  Those who promote legalism as “needed in some way” embark on a dark trail that leads to hearts of stone, well away from the admonitions of Jesus, and further still from the personal experience Jesus longs to have with each of us.

If you must rebel.  If you feel like rebellion is embedded into your DNA, and you must allow it some form of expression.  Then rebel against the societal norms of traditional church – and begin to infect your assembly with the vibrant expression of your personal relationship with Jesus that you have every single week.  Use the opportunity of the assembling together, as your chance to share what Jesus did for you that week, or what you learned sitting at His feet.  And be quick to see and encourage this in others.  Listen actively, and passionately, looking for every word you can encourage, and every opportunity you can take to demonstrate the love of Jesus to those around you, who are sure to need it. 

Be a rebel in totally disregarding age as a construct that creates boundaries in your mind.  Jesus does not shy away from the old, or the young, in fact, He is particularly fond of the young and young-at-heart.  I doubt Jesus was in favor of me painting a kitchen at 3, but I am certain He laughed hysterically at the ideas of my artistry at that age, recognizing the cuteness of my ridiculousness, and bearing me up in His arms with a hug so tight, my gold paint would have gotten all over Him.  If an artist I must be, then my Jesus would take the time over many years to help me hone my talent, offering me new mediums to dip my fingers in, and new canvas’ to spill out upon.  My Jesus did not spank the artistry out of me, but rather gifted me with more of it until my cup ran over.  How good I was, was never a concern.  This was something between He and I.  My only real critic sat upon a throne in a kingdom I could not see as yet; where I am certain He posted the copies of my work on His refrigerator even when others had no idea what they represented.  This is how personal Jesus gets with me, and why I know He will certainly do it with you, if you are open to it.

I imagine heaven being the place where we are all finally able to share our “earth testimonies” with each other.  I want to know your life story, and there we will have time to share it.  But here, when I am anxious to indulge that rebel part of me, I want to turn church over on its ear.  I want to make church a place where the passion Jesus creates finds an outlet for each of us, not just a few of us.  I want to get a start on hearing your testimony now, and embracing your encouragement, while offering you whatever I have as well.  We can turn the phrase “brother and sister” into something more akin to the family we would all idealize.  Imagine a church like that.  Does not matter if that is 50 people, or 50,000 people meeting every week.  Unleashing that kind of passion, and love for each other in a church, would surely change the world.  Let us become the beacon of Love He represents, and strive to meet needs, no matter what order or package they present themselves in.  If we are to rebel, then let us rebel against the norms that would deprive us of Him, and make our rebel church, and our rebel lives, rebelling against the world and aiming straight at Jesus.

Ghosts in the Night ...

Little children fear the dark.  It is not the blackness so much as the unknown, what cannot be easily seen.  A stuffed animal in the light of day is a cuddly toy, but in the dark, is a silhouette of undetermined malice.  And let’s not even get started on clowns.  That makeup hides who-knows-what behind it.  But as unsettling as finding a clown in your room in the daytime might be, discovering one there at night might have you wondering where the next pair of clean underwear is waiting.  Perhaps the business truisms of transparency and visibility that offer benefit because they de-mystify and make things clear or easy-to-understand have an echo in life.  In life, a good dose of light seems to drive any monsters away (or at least the monsters that may still reside in our imagination).  Real monsters follow suit.  Thieves typically prefer the dark for their deeds.  So do those among us who would harm us; molesters, rapists, and killers.  In the light they may be caught.  If their victims shine a light on what they did, and who they are, they will surely get caught.  So for evil to prosper, it prefers the dark, to the light of day.

It would seem the supernatural bent on scaring us follows suit as well.  Witches practice rites at night.  Ghosts, or demonic manifestations of those known to be long dead, love to emerge at night.  Perhaps these traditions are handed down because the night makes it easier to scare us – whereas the full illumination of daylight would reveal trickery and raise the comfort level of those encountering these phenomena.  True supernatural manifestations do not actually require nighttime.  The devil is just as comfortable attempting to deceive in daylight as he is at night.  But the night does add an atmosphere of fear to it, that daylight somehow seems to miss.  When King Saul sought the witch to bring him a manifestation of the dead prophet Samuel, he went to her at night.  The demonic representation of Samuel, perhaps one of the earliest Biblical ghosts, appeared in the fire of that night, to bring Saul a message of his own doom.  Not exactly a happy ending.  And a story every Jewish believer would have become familiar with over the years.

Ironically perhaps one of the only events of “after death” that Pharisees and Sadducees could agree upon was - that ghost was not Samuel.  Both would agree it was a demonic manifestation attempting to impersonate Samuel, as neither side would believe God would allow His prophet to be called forth by any witch.  And demons were scattered all through Israel in the time of Christ.  The Sanhedrin should have been the religious leadership body capable of casting demons out; and keeping Israel fairly clean of them.  But this was not the case.  The Sanhedrin seemed unable to stop the plague of demon possession.  So it would be nearly impossible for a believing Jew to throw out the idea of ghosts, and still know that demons were scattered all through the lands of Israel despite an ultra-conservative Sanhedrin leadership.  And when night time arrived, anything supernatural is going to be immediately assumed to be part of team evil.  Even the angels who came to sing of Jesus’ birth had to say fear not, before they could praise the Lord in front the shepherds (watching their fields by night).

So Matthew begins to record his own tale of ghosts that scared him nearly half to death.  It begins after an incredible day of miracles, from healing, to feeding a crowd of 5000 men, plus women and children.  Matthew picks up in his gospel in chapter fourteen picking up in verse 22 saying … “And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. [verse 23] And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.”  This would not be a tale of willing participants.  Matthew uses the word “constrained” as he remembers how insistent Jesus was on the disciples getting in to this boat and heading to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  It made no sense, again.  The Sea of Galilee is not exactly a small lake you can throw a stone across.  It is rather large.  Sailing across it takes a while with a good tail wind.  And it is much easier to sail than to try to hike around the edge of the Sea on foot.  How was Jesus going to catch up with them?  Was He saying goodbye?  Was this it?

Apart from just loving to be around Jesus (who wouldn’t), Matthew and his colleagues had real concerns for the safety of Jesus in this crowd, in this region, and his ability to rejoin them any time soon.  The disciples had no orders for what to do when they reached the other side.  What then?  Were they supposed to wait?  To minister?  To setup a fishing camp?  What?  This is why Jesus nearly had to force them to obey what He wanted.  Once they did, Jesus sent the multitude away, and went up a mountain to pray.  He was there alone.  Meanwhile Matthew records picking up in verse 24 saying … “But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.”  Picture a microburst.  Picture a water spout.  Picture the terror of being on the middle of the Sea of Galilee with only a few accomplished fishermen, the rest were tradesmen of other crafts so pretty much useless in a Sea fairing crisis.  The storm that comes is fierce, perhaps fierce enough to interrupt the prayers of Jesus.  There was no Coast Guard, no rescue ships, nobody to save you.  If your boat filled up with water – you drowned.  This was not a casual bit of rain, it was a life and death struggle to survive, and it was being done at night, when it is far more difficult to see in highly reduced light (no moon, no stars, only thick clouds).

Matthew continues in verse 25 saying … “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. [verse 26] And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.”  First thing to remember is the disciples had NO idea this was Jesus heading their way.  All they saw was a human form, that was a source of light, which would really stand out in the darkness all around them.  It was moving at incredible speeds.  Jesus was not moving at a snail’s pace, or taking the time it would take a normal person to walk the distance the disciples had already sailed before the storm kicked up.  That would take hours.  This was happening in minutes.  This form was moving across the waters at a great speed, and for every step it took, the waves were smoothing out like butter in front of it.  Only a ghost could do this, or a demon, bent on possessing one or all of them in that boat.  And they were terrified to a man.  Every one of them began screaming like a cackle of little girls.  Again this all happening in seconds and minutes.

Matthew continues in verse 27 saying … “But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”  Now let’s take a second look at this from the perspective of Jesus.  He is alone atop a mountain in deep prayer with His Father.  This was not something new and unusual, this was a habit for Him.  It usually happened at night, because He did not want to deny His time with us during the day.  So when we were all tired and heading to bed, Jesus could not wait to get to talk to His Father.  He would climb the nearest hilltop to be as close as He could get, and begin His prayers.  So it was this night.  But something interrupts Him.  He can sense that the devil has begun a special attack on His crew out on the water, intending to kill them all while Jesus is busy in prayer.  The devil figures Jesus is too far away to help them, so they are doomed men.  But the devil is wrong.  Jesus stops praying and does something the devil does not count on.  He moves across land and sea as if on a hover board.  Each step He takes spans many feet in distance below Him.  And a journey that might have taken hours is now ending in only minutes, the storm losing strength as He nears the boat.

But Jesus finds His crew in terror, screaming at the top of their lungs at His approach.  He immediately slows His pace so that their fears do not rise any further.  He is close enough to speak out to them, but not close enough to enter their boat yet.  The storm persists at the boat.  And Jesus announces who He is.  He is lit up, so plainly visible to their eyes.  But all they see is a ghost they believe is a demon attempting to impersonate Him.  They need more proof it is really Him.  Matthew continues in verse 28 saying … “And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. [verse 29] And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”  Peter has an idea.  No demon or ghost will ever help them out, but Jesus would, so he asks to join Jesus on the water.

And it works.  Matthew continues in verse 30 saying … “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. [verse 31] And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”  Matthew is more generous than other gospels on this story.  Matthew attributes Peter’s doubt to the ferocity of the storm, but in truth there was more to it than that.  Other gospels record Peter turning around to look back at the others still in the boat, and immediately he sank.  Nonetheless Peter cries out to save him, as should we, ideally as do we – and the response of Jesus is, to immediately stretch out His hand, catch Peter, and save Him.  You will note, Jesus did not delay.  He did not chide Peter about being dumb, and tell Peter that he needs to do better, before Jesus is going to invest the time in saving him.  Peter does not need to complete the Lord’s prayer first.  Or read up first.  Or start attending Wednesday prayer meetings first.  There were no pre-requirements.  There was Peter crying out to be saved, and Jesus saving him without delay.  That is how it still works with us, no matter what your church, family, or friends might tell you.

How we respond to the love of God, as we learn to love Him, is a response to that incredible love.  It is not a pre-requisite to getting it.  Jesus simply reminds Peter that to focus on Him, would have kept that faith strong.  Asking Peter how he lost his faith, is a gentle way of showing Peter the error of looking away from Jesus, either to a storm, or to others.  The same holds true for us.  Looking at the crisis we face does nothing to make it better for us, but looking to Jesus will.  Looking to others in the church will do nothing to increase our faith, but looking to Jesus will.  Nature disappoints.  Humans disappoint.  But Jesus does not.  This lesson was not just meant for men who were still recovering from a deep terror they felt only moments before, it is for you and for me.

Matthew continues the epilogue in verse 32 saying … “And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. [verse 33] Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.”  As if His identity could ever be in question again.  The disciples recognized Jesus as the Son of God.  But a few more subtleties for us to examine here.  First, as Jesus enters the boat, the entire storm is dissipated to nothing.  Game over Satan.  Satan, demons, and “ghosts” may be literally out to kill you; they were trying to kill Jesus’ first followers.  But Jesus wins those battles every time; we need only look to Him.  Nature obeys the will of Jesus, Jesus is not captivated by the will of Nature.  In addition, time and physics also bend to the will of Jesus.  His movement across and land and sea to reach His disciples did not end there.  Upon entering the boat, other gospels stated, the boat was “immediately” at the destination they were originally sailing for.  The hover effect continued, or time and space were folded, either way distance is no object for Jesus, then or now.

The disciples perhaps once feared the night, but no more.  They learned, as should we, that dark is not something Jesus cannot see through.  He can rescue us from the dark we embrace, save us the moment we call out to Him, and be with us when time and physics say it is impossible to reach the destinations He may have in mind.  From this moment on, I would bet the disciples longed to see a human form lit up at night, not fearing any ghost or demon, but instead hoping it would be Jesus once again.  When fear disappears, faith and hope can emerge.  No more shrieks of terror, instead shouts of joy and hosanna to fill that night air.  Were it me, I believe I would have collapsed at the feet of Jesus unable to move, like a two-year-old content to curl up under daddy’s chair.  I have great respect for the disciple’s ability to continue on in their journey with Jesus.  And continue on they did; the miracles were about to reveal even greater truth to them only moments away …

 

A Human Pillar of Fire ...

How could you miss that?  The signs were all around you.  Everything was right there in front of your eyes.  And still you missed it.  It would seem humanity has perhaps the unique ability to ignore everything and proceed on a course of doomed destination.  Ask anyone who has ever been in a car accident and they can affirm it for you.  The driver at fault, had to have seen so-and-so pulling out in front, or was making a horrible decision to do something ill-advised.  Trees suddenly appear “out of nowhere”, as do parked cars.  And in general, the first response of the driver at fault in an accident is to attempt to find blame elsewhere.  It is almost like clock-work.  And for all the drivers who were victims, not accomplices, or perpetrators, having to argue blame that is clearly assigned in the wrong direction is never fun.  And in the few instances where the victim becomes the perpetrator through mechanisms of faulty insurance investigation, or lying participants, it can get expensive too.  You are left wondering, how could they have missed all those signs and warnings, and proceeded on a course of doom?

At least in a car accident, if no injuries result, you can get on with your life.  Cars can be fixed or replaced.  License points removed through Drivers-Ed, or new insurance rates paid from an ever-shrinking budget.  But imagine when the problem is not tied to an incident that you may be lucky enough to eventually forget.  Imagine if the incident impacted your spiritual life.  Imagine coming face-to-face with God, and then arguing about His existence.  Or worse, rebelling against His directions WHILE you remain in His presence.  Modern Christians have the “luxury” of not sitting in front of Jesus, while they do the stupid things they do – or at least not in His tangible physical presence anyway.  But this was not always so.  And when the people who preceded us, did the stupid things they did, they did them right in the face of God.  It was like shooting the finger at God, while God is there staring at you to see what you did.

It started back in the days of the Israelites.  When the people of Israel went through the plagues of Egypt, they were untouched.  Now get that idea into your head for a minute.  Imagine any one of them.  Imagine having frogs so thick they were everywhere, in everything.  You could not move without stepping on them, even inside your home.  They were in your water (what was left of it).  They were in your food supplies.  Frogs stacked up feet thick on every surface you encounter.  A plague brought by the God of the Universe on Egyptians, but not a frog to be found on anything where Israelites lived, farmed, or ate.  Israelites were free from work during the plague, because the bricks could not be made, no Egyptian could hardly move during them.  And this did not just happen with frogs, it happened with flies, and locusts too.  But you being Israelite, suffered nothing.  Egypt decimated, you untouched.

Now Moses marches you through a Red Sea with water shooting up on both sides of the pathway hundreds of feet into the air.  But the pathway is dry as the desert normally is.  It is dry enough to move cattle, donkeys, wagons, and the old and young.  No mud at all, dry as if it was always that way.  You can touch the water in the sides, but no water spills into the pathway you walk.  You are walking in the breath of the Lord’s nostrils.  You begin to move through the desert, and here is the piece-de-resistance.  By day a cloud covers Israelites so the desert is cool, mild, and not a single scorpion or snake emerges from its hole.  By night, a pillar of fire stands over the camp providing ample light, and warmth against the cold the desert will naturally offer.  Again no scorpions, spiders, snakes, or other bothersome creatures emerge while Israelite feet are nearby.  God has radically altered the word “desert” where you are walking, camping, and taking meals.  You might dismiss the cloud as something nature provided (through willful ignorance).  But there is no way to write-off the pillar of fire at night as anything other than God.  And even with that pillar in full view, the Israelites found a way to disobey God entirely.

Fast forward 1600 years and Jesus is here.  Now “who” Jesus was might have been up for a measure of debate, but Matthew in his gospel to the Hebrews, was about to put a nail in that coffin so to speak.  Matthew was about to identify a Human form of the pillar of fire that would light the way of Israel forever more.  It begins in his gospel in chapter fourteen picking up in verse 13 saying … “When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. [verse 14] And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.”  The news of John the Baptist’s death was spreading far and wide across the nation.  The people were sad.  They needed a beacon of hope.  They needed a light.  They were desperate.  Jesus takes a ship across the Sea of Galilee, a distance away from civilization, and the people don’t care, they follow Him there in great numbers.

The pillar lights up.  Imagine this crowd, it contains 5000 men, PLUS women, and children.  So if the average man over 16 was married, and had 2.5 kids per family (remember no birth control, and marriage happened young).  The math on this works out easily to 15-20k people.  But here is the pillar on fire part – Jesus heals their sick.  Not just some of them.  Not just a few of them.  All of them throughout the entire crowd from babies to old men barely able to move.  From diseases none of us can see, to amputee’s with restored limbs everyone can see now.  The blind see.  The deaf hear.  It is the prophecies fulfilled in their entirety.  A day of preaching and healing such as has never been before.  The words preached on that day were not recorded for us – Oh what a loss!!  We know what He did, but nothing about what He said.  None the less the pillar was lit up.  NO ONE ever healed like He healed, or preached the way He preached, or loved the way He did.  No one, ever. 

The day could have ended right there, and definitive proof of His identity had been offered in what He had just done.  But not yet.  Matthew continues in verse 15 saying … “And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.”  And here is where loopy logic sets in.  If it is a desert (check); and there is no food nearby naturally (check); then where will the stores be for this size crowd to shop at, and how will these imaginary stores be stocked or prepared for this size of demand?  There are no stores for this.  Sending the people away, means sending them home hungry.  Now the crowd could have taken it.  They were all just restored to perfect health that day, so a little hunger is not going to kill anyone.  But let’s be honest, there are no stores for food.  The disciples were looking to pass the responsibility for feeding this crowd back to the people themselves.  Jesus sees through that right away.

Jesus responds in verse 16 saying … “But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.”  Hey guys, you can do this.  This is the God of the Universe, stating what is possible, and giving direction to them to get it done.  The pillar is burning brightly, and the chief servants of the pillar say in verse 17 … “And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.”  No can do boss.  Math says 15k to 20k people, our inventory says five loaves and two fishes (which they borrowed from one of the children whose mother packed him a lunch before he went to see Jesus – yay mom!).  But the kicker is not what Jesus does next, it is what the disciples failed to do first.  Jesus was offering to spread out His power through them, and their miniscule faith.  Jesus had said – feed this crowd, do not sent them away.  The pillar is burning as brightly as it can – every single person healed that day.  Their response, was no can do.  This is all we have.  Epic fail – right in the face of the human pillar of fire.  And how many times do we give Jesus the exact same answer to His calls for us to minister – no can do boss, this is all we have and it is not enough – math says no.

Jesus had to have sighed.  I would have given the eye-roll.  But then, He is way more patient than me.  So Jesus answers and says in verse 18 … “He said, Bring them hither to me. [verse 19] And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”  This is a miracle tutorial 101 for those not paying attention.  He told the disciples to get this done.  And He had them serve the entire crowd, from the inventory they offered.  The strength of Christ is not to be underestimated.  The pillar burns brighter still.  And perhaps this provided more tangible proof as to who He was as math and physics could not get this done.  But a crowd of restored 20k fully healed folks should have already known that.  This event is recorded like a big deal, but the big deal were the words we missed out on.

Matthew records the epilogue in verse 20 saying … “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. [verse 21] And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.”  Everyone ate, not just a little, not a ration, but a belly full.  And beyond that, 12 baskets of food left over were collected and likely sent home with the crowd to feed the poor in the cities they came from – evidence of the human pillar of fire in Jesus, who was in fact, the light of all Israel.  I ask you, who in that crowd of attendance that day, who came sick, and left healthy and fully restored; who came depressed of soul, and left restored of soul; who could argue this was not the Christ, long foretold of the prophets?  To argue against this God, was to argue in the time of Moses against the pillar of Christ that stood over them at nightfall.  It was the same God.  Matthew’s crowd saw in human form, what that pillar really looks like.  And Jesus warmed that camp for 40 years plus night after night never missing a night, never taking a vacation, never forgetting His people even when they forgot He was there right in front of them.

And what is it like in your life today?  I know that Jesus has already been a part of it, even when He is uninvited (by you), He is often invited through the prayers of others on your behalf.  Are you seriously able to tell me that you have seen no sign of Jesus in your life?  Or more likely, you have many stories in your testimony you cannot explain.  Things you have witnessed that math and physics could not have gotten done.  The pillar of fire may not hang over your home at night warming the night air for you, but the pillar of fire still looks to enter your heart, and bring you a life you can scarcely imagine.  He is just as real as the God who kept feet-thick frogs from covering your home.  He is just as real as the Jesus who cared too much to see a great crowd go home hungry, after a day of awesome ministry.  He is the Jesus who longs to see your life, become something you would want to live.  Can you ignore the signs?  Can you look away from His flame?  Call it luck, call it coincidence, call it “blessed” without any understanding of that word.  It is more.  It is a Jesus on fire for you, to see you reconciled to Himself.  Never let those signs go unnoticed, or unembraced.  That fire is coming straight for you, and it is going to light up your life in ways beyond all comprehension.  Same Jesus, different “you”.